


Smokes and Smalltalk

by DieroteRosine



Series: Tsukishima Week 2020 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Day 1: Moon, Flirting, JVA Employee Kuroo Tetsurou, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Moon, Museum Employee Tsukishima Kei, Smoking, Strangers, Tsukishima Week 2020, park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26560372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieroteRosine/pseuds/DieroteRosine
Summary: "Can I help you?" The stranger smirked and something in Kuroo skipped because his voice gave him goddamn goose bumps."Um, yes.", He stammered, looking down at the floor, "I was wondering if you might be cold."When there was no answer, Kuroo lifted his head slightly, but immediately regretted it, because now those unusually intense eyes were fixed on him again and he became nervous."Only - only because it's November and night and it's cold, you know?"
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Tsukishima Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938544
Comments: 8
Kudos: 138
Collections: TsukkiBdayWeek2020





	Smokes and Smalltalk

Night had long since fallen over the park near the tram stop.

Thousands of stars lit up the pitch-black sky as Kuroo sauntered down the gravel path in front of him, humming quietly.

Just a few minutes ago he and the old Nekoma team had celebrated the success of Kenma's own company in a karaoke bar, and had spent the evening telling funny stories and indulging in old memories.

Shortly after 1 am., the group started to move and Yamamoto had said his goodbyes, since he had to take his child to school tomorrow morning.

Little by little the group had disbanded and in the end it was only Yaku, Lev and Kenma, who had brought Kuroo to the tram stop to see him off.

Kuroo yawned again and stretched, hands buried deep in the pockets of his suit pants.

The beginning of November had already brought the first frost over Tokyo and a cool wind made the black-haired man shiver as he walked towards his apartment.

In the distance he could hear the still busy clatter of the many thousands of shops that never closed their doors and even so late at night illuminated the streets with colorful neon billboards.

Lost in thought, Kuroo headed for the large statue in the middle of the park, from there it was only 500 meters to his apartment and then he could finally fall into his warm pillows.

A breath of expelled air left him and he absently rubbed his arms with his hands, he should have opted for a thicker jacket.

But, no, he really wanted to show up in a suit at their reunion, now he had to live with the consequences.

Kuroo had turned down Kenma's generous offer to stay with him, knowing that he would have to go to work in a few hours and that Kenma would probably not leave the bedroom before 3 pm.

With a quiet song on his lips, Kuroo trudged through the starry night and was already imagining how he would be taking a steaming warm bath in a few minutes when a noise made him pause.

It was of course nonsense to assume that he was the only one who frequented this park and yet - it was unusual to find other people here at this time.

After a few seconds in which it was dead quiet again around him, Kuroo shrugged his shoulders and accelerated his steps barely noticeable as he headed for the exit of the park.

Just when he had reached the large steel gate, he turned around again - whether from an inner inspiration or a reflex, he couldn't say more later, but it was enough to freeze him in motion.

Not far from the exit of the park, on one of the many wooden benches, sat a man.

And if Kuroo had to describe him, he would have said that he was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

Blond-white strands fell in shoulder-length curls over almost glowing skin and even in the dark Kuroo could see two amber-colored eyes flashing at him behind glasses.

Everything about the man seemed filigree, even if Kuroo had never thought about a person like that, but the way in which long fingers closed around a smoldering cigarette in the dark of night and meter-long, slender legs elegantly draped over each other made the man like look like a creature from a fairy tale.

And as much as Kuroo tried to avert his gaze and walk the few meters to his house, an inner voice screamed at him to approach this person.

Kuroo stood indecisively at the gate, one hand closed around one of the iron posts, still gazing at the blond man who was smoking a few meters away.

When a cold breeze blew through Kuroo's suit again, he saw the blond man shiver and only now noticed that he was wearing nothing more than a long brown sweater and jeans.

As if by reflex, Kuroo pulled away from the gate and stepped, faster than intended, towards the man who was still smoking and fixed Kuroo with his yellow eyes.

The stranger did not move a bit, only a very delicate smile curled up in the corner of his mouth when Kuroo reached him and stood still indecisively.

Now that he was standing directly in front of the man, he first noticed that he hadn't thought about why he had gone to him in the first place.

Yes, he had seen that he was freezing, but he couldn't offer him his jacket - after all, Kuroo was a stranger and also a stranger in the night.

Golden eyes flashed at him from below and Kuroo's brain had stopped working somewhere in the last few meters, because all that crossed his mind was that these eyes would probably follow him into his dreams.

For another moment he stood completely overwhelmed in front of the blond, whose cigarette hung loosely between his lips, eyeing Kuroo questioningly.

"Can I help you?" The stranger smirked and something in Kuroo skipped because his voice gave him goddamn goose bumps.

"Um, yes.", He stammered, looking down at the floor, "I was wondering if you might be cold."

When there was no answer, Kuroo lifted his head slightly, but immediately regretted it, because now those unusually intense eyes were fixed on him again and he became nervous.

"Only - only because it's November and night and it's cold, you know?"

In any other situation Kuroo would have laughed, he was stuttering so awkwardly, but this time when the blonde gave an approving hum, Kuroo swallowed the burgeoning laugh.

"Yes, it's definitely a bit cold." Said the stranger and smiled crookedly - _God, Kuroo's heart._ "But I think I can handle myself quite well."

As if he wanted to underline his words, he reached out a hand to Kuroo and at the moment when warm skin touched Kuroo's cold skin, the black-haired man winced.

The stranger withdrew his hand apologetically and gave Kuroo another smile before taking a long drag on his cigarette.

“I have no problem with the cold. On the contrary, when it's cold, I feel most comfortable."

 _"Oh.",_ Was all Kuroo managed to say, the spot where the man had touched him was still burning and Kuroo resisted the urge to trace the spot with his thumb.

Instead he nodded twice, cleared his throat and then registered that the moment had come where he should go - after all, the blonde had made it clear to him that he could manage everything on his own.

But as much as Kuroo tried to convince his body to turn around and leave, he was still standing in front of the other, embarrassed, staring at the floor.

The person opposite continued to smoke silently and the only sound was the regular puffing of smoke between his lips.

After a while the man slowly straightened up and gave Kuroo a long look, in no way questioning why the strange stranger was still standing in front of him in silence, and patted the bench next to him.

"You don't have to stand around the whole time if you want to sit down."

Before Kuroo's brain could even transmit a signal to him, which contained anything like "danger" or "flight instinct", the black-haired man had already dropped next to the blonde and was now just as silently staring straight ahead.

“You know-,” the blonde began and Kuroo saw his gaze resting on him from the side, “I've been wondering what a man like you is doing here in this park so late. You don't look like you're one of those men who party all night long."

Kuroo's tongue felt heavy when he cleared his throat and started speaking for the first time in minutes. “No no, I live around here. And we celebrated the success of one of my friends together, that's why."

For some reason Kuroo replied to the man without thinking about what the man could do with this information.

The blonde nodded in understanding, leaning back on the bench with another puff of smoke.

"A party, then, huh?" An amused twitch passed his lips. "And since each of you has either children, work, or both, you had to end the party at 1am?"

Kuroo gave a small laugh. "Correct! We're all not getting any younger. You can't stay up that late."

That elicited a gentle giggle from the blonde and Kuroo's heart jumped strangely.

"And you?", He asked after a moment of silence, "Do you always go to the park late at night just to smoke?"

"No no," smiled the blonde, "I go here so that pretty guys speak to me and offer me their jacket."

Kuroo's face had to speak volumes, because the man laughed again softly and gave Kuroo a restrained grin.

But Kuroo only needed a moment before he caught himself and playfully leaned closer and bared his teeth: "Oh, so am I just one of many men you gave the cold shoulder tonight?"

"One of hundreds.", The man smirked and visibly suppressed a laugh.

Kuroo grabbed his chest and mumbled, played hurt: "Ah, you know how to break a man's heart and I thought we had a connection."

Amused, the man slid closer and Kuroo only noticed that their knees were touching when the blonde also played out his hand. "What connection are you talking about? About the fact that we both sit in a park at night and you have a jacket and I don't? Your life seems really sad when that is all you need to feel a connection. "

Now Kuroo gasped for breath and was about to reply that he had had romantic encounters, when the blonde turned around and was suddenly so close that Kuroo forgot what he wanted to say.

But as quickly as the moment came, as quickly it was over and with a click of his tongue the blonde leaned back a little - just far enough that only their knees touched lightly.

Kuroo's heart pounded in his ears and completely forgotten was the warm bath or the cozy bed a few hundred meters away from him.

He cleared his throat hoarsely and pulled the suit jacket a little closer around him while the stranger continued to smoke.

"Say, how much longer do you want to sit here?", Kuroo mumbled softly and avoided looking directly at his counterpart, not sure whether he could endure those damn shining eyes again immediately.

The blond man took a long drag of the nicotine and then flicked the cigarette into the trash can next to them.

"Still a few hours."

Kuroo knew he shouldn't ask, it was absolutely none of his business, but again he spoke before thinking: “But why? Sitting in the dark for hours and smoking? Why are you doing this?"

A low chuckle came from the other man and he shrugged.

"I can't sleep."

"But -", Kuroo started again, but the blonde wiped his protest away with a wave of his hand. “Listen, I'm glad you kept me company tonight, but it's only one night. One of three hundred and sixty-five nights I've been sitting here. I already said, I can handle myself."

That made Kuroo fall silent and he suddenly felt terribly stupid - the other person was right, Kuroo didn't know him, sat next to him on a park bench for just thirty minutes and asked questions that were absolutely none of his business.

He bowed his head in resignation and let out his breath.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. I was probably a little too offensive. "

With a melancholy smile he added. "I just always worry about people, so I thought I could help you."

The other man was silent, his hands folded on his thighs, and stared up at the dark night sky.

After minutes that felt like decades for Kuroo, the blonde raised his voice again. "You don't have to apologize. I would be confused too if I were you. It's just something that I have to go through alone."

There was a hint of longing in the voice of the stranger and suddenly Kuroo had no other thought than to do everything possible not to let him go through this "thing" alone.

He only noticed that he had grabbed the man's hand with his hand when his counterpart paused and looked at Kuroo's hand.

Kuroo would later claim that it was the way the man's voice broke briefly when he spoke to him, or that it was the hint of longing that resonated within him, but he didn't move an inch.

They just sat there, Kuroo's hand on the back of the other man's hand and they both looked at each other in silence.

After a while a dog started to bark in the distance and a siren sounded from somewhere, but they still just sat quietly and motionless in the cold.

"Tsukishima.", The blonde's voice sounded miserable, dull, almost as if he were fighting the urge to close his eyes and sleep. “My name is Tsukishima. I thought you might want to know that when you spend the night with me. "

Kuroo swallowed dryly, the name rolling off his tongue as if by itself. “So Tsukishima. My name is Kuroo. "

"Kuro, _black_ , how fitting that we meet here at night.", Tsukishima muttered and Kuroo couldn't quite suppress a smile.

“Says the man who has “moon” in his name. Is that why you are always up so late?"

The blond's features relaxed slightly. "Maybe. I don't know, somehow I've always been drawn out into the night. Whenever I can't sleep, I sit here and watch the moon."

"And normally you even have your peace and quiet, only today you stupidly stumbled upon me and must now have a conversation about your name for the umpteenth time."

Kuroo grinned slightly and he could swear a short red touch appeared on Tsukishima's cheeks.

Instead, the blond man leaned forward and smirked: “Yes, it's really hard for me. First I am offered a jacket and then the guy dares to banish my boredom."

"Unbelievable, how are you going to endure it?", Kuroo sighed and laughed when Tsukishima drove his head dramatically.

Again the mood seemed to have relaxed and Kuroo let out a noisy breath when he noticed how much his shoulders had cramped.

"What else do you do when you don't get men to offer you their jackets at night?"

Tsukishima clicked his tongue and looked at Kuroo's hand, which was still resting on his.

“I work in a museum. The natural history museum around the corner. I took on the night shifts for the entire last year and carried out studies on the exhibits, so my body can no longer deal with the fact that I have to work during the day and is constantly awake at night."

If someone had told Kuroo beforehand that the reason this beautiful man crouched in this park night after night was because his body couldn't get used to the new working hours, he would have laughed.

Now, however, he limited himself to an amused snort and shake of his head.

"And I've already thought something terrible, moonchild."

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow in amusement. "What? That I have a deep trauma or a tragic backstory? Oh, if you want to hear that, I can tell you exactly how my brother lied to me back then in middle school and that is now my drive for my hatred and thoughts of revenge."

Kuroo snorted with a laugh and unconsciously squeezed Tsukishima's hand, which this time conjured up an unmistakable red sheen on the blonde's face.

"No, thank you, I'll forego your revenge stories for now, Sasuke."

"Damn it. And I was already getting started to fill four episodes with my backstory.”

Tsukishima smiled and then paused. “Besides, _“ for now”_? How long do you plan to sit here?"

When Kuroo raised his head and looked at Tsukishima, those devilish golden eyes fixed him for the third time that night and Kuroo's heart flipped again.

"A few more hours," he muttered and the corners of Tsukishima's mouth twitched slightly.

"Besides -", Kuroo took a breath, "don't you think it might be a good idea to move the dramatic backstory to the second date?"

He almost didn't dare to look up, the brief thought of overshooting the mark, terrifyingly real.

Only when Tsukishima's hand pressed lightly against his and the blonde gave an almost overwhelmed laugh, Kuroo's gaze shifted upwards and Tsukishima beamed at him.

And if Tsukishima's smile had already been a show stopper, then his laughter was probably a reason for Kuroo's early demise, because his heart would not go along for long.

"That was probably the absolute strangest way to be asked on a date that I've ever heard."

Kuroo grinned crookedly. "But was it effective?"

Tsukishima looked indignantly at him. "Are you kidding? How can I say no to a date when I can tell my dramatic childhood to a complete stranger? That sounds like a main prize!"

"I'll even pay for the food." Kuroo explained seriously and Tsukishima laughed again. "Well then, prepare yourself for stories that will make Naruto look old against me."

Kuroo grinned broadly. "Don't say that they sealed a fox spirit in you back then."

Then he paused and his face brightened, Tsukishima apparently already suspected what was to come, because he rolled his eyes when Kuroo asked overjoyed: "Tell me, are you with the AkaTSUKKI?"

"Oh God.", Groaned the blonde, "I'll take it back, I don't think I want to go on a date."

"Come on Moonshine, that was funny."

"It wasn't."

"Not even a tiny bit?", Kuroo wiggled his eyebrows and he clearly saw the suppressed laugh of Tsukishima as he looked at him and then softly, very softly, mumbled: "Well, maybe a little bit."

When Kenma stood at Kuroo's door three weeks later, unannounced, he was amazed when the door was opened by a tall blond man who was clearly wearing Kuroo's old Nekoma jersey.


End file.
